Finding Your Purpose
by KeepSmiling1
Summary: For the Houses Competition Forum, Filius just wants to be known for something meaningful. Finding one's purpose, however, isn't an easy feat.


A/N **House/Team: Badgers. Class Subject: Charms. Story Category: Standard. Prompt: ****[Character] Filius Flitwick****. Word Count: 1274 Note that I have Tom Riddle as seven years Flitwick's senior as opposed to the nine-year difference suggested by some sources.**

Filius Flitwick was never destined to be ordinary. The Flitwicks never were...average. To be fair, they weren't necessarily anything extraordinary, but no Flitwick had been called average since Fredrick Flitwick tied the knot with Garnet of the Hardstone clan six generations ago. Fredrick died long ago, of course, and without her husband, Garnet returned to the Goblin Nation. Their progeny still stopped by to visit every so often, however. No, average could never be used to describe a family line that was exceptionally small by wizard standards, and just that side of too tall by goblin standards.

Filius Flitwick wasn't quite sure what he _wanted _to be or do when he grew up, but whatever it was, he wanted to be known for something besides his size. He would be the best...at something.

One summer, while visiting his great-grandmother for tea, Filius was invited to train with his cousin, Gar'nack. Gar'nack was his much stronger cousin who was considered one of the best in their age bracket for sword fighting. Childish pride, and perhaps a dash of excitement at being included, caused Filius to accept. It quickly became clear, however, that this was not a battle Filius was well-equipped to win. Gar'nack seemed to wield his sword with a grace that was unnatural. Filius, on the other hand, felt that he could barely lift his up (his being a spare of his much stronger cousin's). Seeing the faces of the various goblins in attendance on the high stands around the fighting pit, Filius decided to change the rules a bit. Using the (to him) large sword to cut roots was not easy, but eventually, his trap was laid. Ten minutes later, Gar'nack, who had been searching for his half-human cousin, found himself disarmed and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an opponent whose greater reach and speed left him at a disadvantage. Never before had one of his opponents changed the rules like that, and though it eventually led to his ceding the fight, he wanted to ask his cousin if he had any other ideas on how to change things. His ingenuity was a great asset that Gar'nack wanted to tap into.

Filius went to bed that night with his heart pounding in excitement. He had done it; he had done it! He might not be the strongest or the best at sword fighting, but Filius Franklin Flitwick had won against the best goblin his age using his intelligence. Better, said goblin had come to him asking for battle advice! Of course, Filius' happiness was not to last. The next day, one of the judges of the event came by to berate him for changing the rules of engagement and for being a dishonest human. Despite the encouragement and love of Great-Grandmother Garnet and the support of his cousin, Gar'nash, Filius had to leave. Filius still had much searching to do to find his area of expertise.

Time passed. Filius was the freak of Ravenclaw - tolerated in class for always knowing the right answers but disdained in the dormitory for his mixed blood. The Head Boy, Tom Riddle, could be quite persuasive with his arguments against mixed-breeds at Hogwarts particularly since a few years before Filius came, a half-giant by the name of Hagrid had been responsible for the Chamber of Secrets debacle. Nonetheless, Filius kept up the hard work. He was proud of his mixed heritage and wouldn't let a lack of friends prevent him from looking for that one thing...that one thing that would make him stand out on merit alone. While Charms was the easiest class for the young Ravenclaw, they weren't exactly glamorous or noteworthy. In fifth year, however, Professor Grunnings created the Hogwarts Dueling Club. While Filius only had an E in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he was soon the unrivaled champion of the HDC. On the dueling platform, Filius' small stature worked to his benefit, and his creative use of unconventional spells often helped him to win the duel. Who knew that the Bubble Shooting Charm used to entertain babies was impervious to most shields? It is remarkably difficult to see or aim when one is surrounded by bubbles, strangely enough. _Tarantallegra _was another similarly useful spell that had never been used for dueling before Filius entered the scene. Truly Filius had finally found a place where he belonged. Going on the Dueling Circuit after graduation made sense. There, Filius learned how to cast silently and duel with his right hand after a burn to his left cost him an important duel. Though Filius gained quite the reputation for using unique spellwork in his duels, he was not above using the same spells as his opponents if it would win him the round.

The most significant gift that Filius received from the Circuit was the love and admiration of Ms. Melody Blake. Being only 1/16th veela, Melody Blake was unable to bewitch men like her mother, but Filius quickly fell under her spell. The pair drew looks wherever they went - the minuscule dueling champion hand-in-hand with the statuesque blond…. The looks were inevitable. Men were envious; women felt disdain. Some spat at the mismatched couple of mixed blood. Abraxas Malfoy, one of Riddle's allies at Hogwarts, encouraged a smear campaign against the two, and more than one restaurant gave them less than courteous service. Nonetheless, Filius and Melody were happy, and Filius proposed the morning before his third championship duel. He almost lost the duel because Melody's response made it hard for him to concentrate around the happiness in his heart.

The wedding was a small affair surrounded by family. It was doubtful that the wedding chapel had ever had such a mishmash of people inside its walls before the part-goblin/part-veela wedding. Before Melody, Filius had thought there was no greater happiness or sense of purpose to be found than that which he found while dueling. On the Circuit, he was renowned for his skills...something he had always wanted. Standing beside his wife, Filius was reduced to his mixed-breed status again, but he was strangely okay with that.

Melody taught him a valuable lesson in self-acceptance. Making a name for himself that could stand apart from his size was all well and good, but it didn't provide peace...not like love. This lesson would eventually give Filius the strength to switch careers after a Lord Voldemort came visiting and destroyed the love of his life and their two-month-old daughter.

They had a closed casket funeral. Melody's body had been horribly burned in the fire. Filius had returned from a duel to a burnt home and slurs burnt onto the grass. Their daughter, Harper, went relatively unscathed, her mother having protected the infant from the flames with her own body. Lack of air was the culprit of Harper's death. A dark mark burnt in the sky decreed who was responsible for the arson.

Filius wanted revenge. He wanted to fight. Height requirements prevented him from joining the Aurors. He could fight independently, but he honestly didn't think he could handle a stay at Azkaban once the Aurors stopped him. As much as he wanted to die, he knew Melody would want him to live on.

It was his old Transfiguration professor who came up with a solution, a way to fight for a better world. Instead of going up against death eaters until he finally died, he could fight the thinking that led to the hate in the first place. Teaching at Hogwarts, he would be able to influence the minds of generations of children, teach tolerance and acceptance instead of hate.


End file.
